Author Description

Is your workplace built for how we work today—or stuck in the way we worked yesterday? The world of work changed overnight in 2020, when COVID-19 forced millions of corporate employees to work from home—yet many organizations have still not adapted to the new standards of modern work. Since then, we’ve lived through the Great Work From Home Experiment, the Great Resignation, the Great Reshuffle, and now find ourselves grappling with the Age of AI. While most workplace debates still focus on where people work, the more important question is how work actually happens, and how places support work. WORK then PLACE redefines the workplace for the 21st century. The modern workplace isn’t a fixed location, but an ecosystem of behaviors, systems, and environments tailored to the unique attributes of your organization. This book provides a clear and adaptable guide to developing a workplace strategy that aligns with business goals, helps employees thrive at work, and evolves alongside your company. With WORK then PLACE, you’ll learn how to: Distinguish between the work your company does and the places (physical, digital, and experiential) that support it. Develop a workplace strategy that centers workflows and the people who power them. Use practical frameworks and decision-making methods to define and evolve your approach. Navigate hybrid work, AI shifts, cultural transformation, and the growing demand for adaptability and purpose. Measure effectiveness and drive meaningful change that enables employee success, rather than just requiring compliance. What you won’t find in WORK then PLACE: Prescriptive formulas, nostalgia for the pre-pandemic Before Times, justification for half-baked RTO policies, or stale remote vs. office debates. The conversation has evolved. Our approaches must, too. Written by workplace transformation and employee experience experts Sara Escobar and Corinne Murray, WORK then PLACE distills decades of real-world experience into